Court rejects self-defence claim

He said it all started when his 56-year-old mother asked him for money.

When he turned down her request, Sujay Solomon Sutherson said his mother grabbed his hair and scratched him.

He also said something else: That she tried to undress him, saying "I want a son".

They quarrelled violently, then Sujay, 34, stabbed his mother, Madam Mallika Jesudasan, in the neck three times with a knife and came close to decapitating her.

He said he had acted in self-defence when his mother attacked him on May 27, 2012.

But Judicial Commissioner Hoo Sheau Peng did not accept Sujay's arguments of self-defence, or what is known as private defence, when he fatally stabbed his mother at the family's Bukit Batok East flat.

Sujay had "deliberately performed the act", given that he had retrieved a second knife after stabbing his mother the first time, Ms Hoo said.

After the assault, which occurred between 6.30pm and 10.45pm, police found three knives at the scene.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kumaresan Gohulabalan said there was no right to Sujay's claim of private defence against Madam Mallika's alleged acts.

Mr Kumaresan said: "The deceased's alleged attempts to harm and outrage the modesty of the accused, if taken to be true, did not cause the accused to reasonably apprehend death or grievous hurt."

Sujay could have alerted the incident to the police, said Mr Kumaresan.

Instead, Sujay, who has a history of mental illness, did the opposite.

LIED

Mr Kumaresan added: "He took steps to hide the deceased's body and lied to family members on her whereabouts, when he could have immediately reported to them what had happened.

"He also attempted to clean the home in a bid to erase evidence of the grisly assault."

The prosecution's arguments centred on Sujay suffering a relapse of his paranoid schizophrenia during the brutal attack.

Sujay, who was not represented in court, admitted during cross-examination that he knew Madam Mallika would have probably died without medical treatment after he first stabbed her.

He had also agreed with the prosecutor that he was in no danger from his mother as she had moved away from him after having a knife in her neck.

Madam Mallika had died due to bleeding from multiple stab wounds to the neck, said Dr George Paul, senior consultant forensic pathologist with the Health Sciences Authority.

In his autopsy report, Dr Paul said Madam Mallika was stabbed twice and her neck was also slit, which "was an attempt to decapitate the head".

TRIED TO BURN BODY

With regards to the three neck injuries, Dr Paul said: "(They) were individually and collectively sufficient to cause death in the ordinary course of nature."

After stabbing her, Sujay had then tried to burn his mother's body.

He placed old newspapers on her body and poured vodka and rice wine on the newspapers. A stove lighter was used in the act.

Subsequently, Sujay hid Madam Mallika's body under his bed after bundling her in used bedsheets, towels and quilt covers.

Her body was later discovered - partially concealed by two cardboard boxes and a bag - by Sujay's uncle following a frantic search of the estate and the flat by family members when they realised Madam Mallika was missing.

Sujay will be sentenced next month. None of his family members attended the court proceedings yesterday. Sujay can be jailed up to 20 years, fined or caned.

The deceased's alleged attempts to harm and outrage the modesty of the accused, if taken to be true, did not cause the accused to reasonably apprehend death or grievous hurt.